It is known to array a plurality of adhesive backed elements along the length of a carrier web. The adhesive backing of the elements engages the web and the web itself is constructed of material allowing the elements to be readily removed as desired and applied to a surface. Sometimes the elements are removed by hand and applied; a time consuming and tedious process.
A number of mechanical arrangements have also been devised for stripping the elements from the carrier web and applying them where desired. Some of these devices are highly complex and expensive, particularly those adapted to operate at high speeds and automatically. Conventionally, these latter types of machines are fixed in position, with the items to which the adhesive backed elements are to be applied being fed automatically through the device from an associated storage magazine. Generally speaking, high speed, automated applicators apply the elements to items of generally uniform size, being rather limited as to the sizes and shapes of items that may be accommodated. It almost goes without saying that mechanisms of this type cannot be used to apply adhesive backed elements to surfaces not readily moveable.
Hand held devices for applying adhesive backed elements such as labels to objects have also been devised. One fairly common type of device of this nature is that which requires the application of manual force directly against the surface to which the adhesive backed element is to be applied. In other words, a portable, manually operated device of this nature generally requires that the surface to which the element is being applied be sufficiently rigid to counteract the force applied against it by the operator through the device to actually operate the device. A device of this general type is shown, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,466,855. Such an arrangement is obviously inappropriate if one wishes to apply a label or other adhesive backed element to surfaces which are less than essentially rigid. Also, because the object to which the adhesive backed element is to be applied acts as a support for the device in operation, mechanisms of the opposed force type do not function well unless the surface is substantially even.
Another form of portable, manually actuatable device for applying adhesive backed elements to surfaces is that which requires the operator to manually squeeze two elements, such as two handle components together, to advance the web and strip adhesive backed elements therefrom. A representative device of this nature is that disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,453,999 wherein the operator must squeeze a handle and an operating lever together to actuate a relatively complex web transport mechanism. Repeated operation will obviously be quite tiring to the operator. The device disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,453,999 also requires the use of a highly specialized form of carrier tape to function.
The devices shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,453,999 and 4,466,855 are also illustrative of another common failing of existing portable, manually operated adhesive backed element applicators, and that is that the web, after having the adhesive backed elements removed therefrom, exits the devices in the form of an unsightly strip which can get in the way of the applicator's operation and must be continuously disposed of by the operator. Prior art hand held labeler devices have also been generally characterized by their inability to function if the perforations formed in the carrier tape vary from the normal.